The Impact of The Vietnam War and How The Nation Bounced Back

The United States’ Weaponry


Within the amount of weapon the American carried into the Vietnam War, bombs contributed almost three-fourth of the total weaponry while ordnance such as rockets, missiles and arms were approximately 15%. Supporting military supplies like equipment, ammunition, etc. were the rest 10% to smoulder Vietnam. Moreover, an enormous military resources at about 1 trillion USD had been spent during the period 1964 - 1975.

US Airstrikes Operation


According to the map, the US was bombing mostly the Central and North of Vietnam to eliminate the Viet Cong’s bases and troops. Laos and Cambodia were also assaulted to cease supports for the insurgency, as Vietnamese armies were stationed in the the forest which was also the Laos and Cambodia borders.The amount of bomb was believed to reach up to 7.5 millions tons in total including conventional, guided, and aerosol bombs.

Casualties During War


The peak of the War had witnessed approximately 5 million Vietnamese casualties, the number was estimated for either civilians or soldiers from both South and North of Vietnam. In comparison to Vietnam’s, only 57 thousands US military fatal casualties were recorded in total. Even though 1972 was a heart-breaking year with a peak of 660 thousand fatal deaths, the national government was able to force the Americans to enter into a negotiate of signing the Paris Peace Accords in Spring 1973, agreeing on ending the war and restoring peace for Vietnam.

Vietnam’s Post-War recovery

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After the independent day in 30th of April, 1975, the Gross Domestic Product GDP started to be continuously growing until present. For the first 2 decades, agriculture was the main sector contributing to the GDP. Despite the fact that the national GDP still relies on import/export trade for goods and products, Vietnam has seen manufacturing and tourism start to be significant since approaching the 2000s while agriculture share decrease. It is a positive sign of transitioning to industrial & tourism-based economy.

Vietnamese Population Lifestyle Pattern


Vietnamese longevity started to increase dramatically after the war and reach its peak at 75 of age. The lowest life expectancy was about 55 years old during the peak duration 1965-1973. It was slightly risen up to 60, then dropped after the US began bombing operation. The average post-war life expectancy is recorded at around 73 and was believed to keep moving forward the uptrend.

Contribution of Healthcare Expenditure by Composition


Compositions with elderly people seems to contribute more than those are having adults and younger generations while the contribution of households for other composition group that recorded more than 10% of their income on health started to be insignificant. As a result, it can be said that the Vietnamese population have been starting to take care of the elder by willing to spend more on their healthcare systems, resulting in the high life expectancy.

Pattern of Household Expenditure by Composition


The overall number of households which spend more than 10% of their total income decrease, meaning that less younger Vietnamese generation need to spend money on treatments as a result of better health condition nowadays. Regardless of the increasing total population, the proportion of these households seem to either remain unchanged or slightly fluctuate.

Education Now and Then


The bar chart displays that Primary education is a mandatory standard since the ending of the war. Especially, both genders are equally provided with educational opportunities without any discrimination. There is a huge gap between 1976 and 2022 for Secondary and Tertiary enrolment ratios, showing that Vietnamese people have been emphasizing the important of education.

In 1986, Vietnam was transitioning to market economy leading the country to face economy challenges. A large number of household tended to prioritize working over education, resulted in a drop. Then, the impact of the 2010 global recession to Vietnam’s economy was too significant and require recovery that once again pulled the enrolment ratios down.